Hooper & Co Diorama

[landman]

Not bad for a prototype. Next, you will need a camp stove and a teapot.

[Anglia105E]

29 minutes ago, landman said:

Not bad for a prototype. Next, you will need a camp stove and a teapot.

Yes, it turned out quite reasonable........ all I need now is some seated figures in 1:43 scale, and a camp stove, teapot......By measuring one of our full size deckchairs and dividing each dimension by 43, the model was accurate to the nearest millimetre. If this had been 1:12 scale, or possibly even 1:24 scale I could have made the hinge mechanism work, to put up and fold down the deckchair...... perhaps a bridge too far in 1:43 scale !

David

[Anglia105E]

Here is the second deckchair, and following on from the prototype this is a better version, I think. The fabric for the canvas is slightly longer, and also the coloured stripes are narrower. I have painted the frame of the second deckchair with Vallejo Bone White acrylic, and then over-painted the Vallejo Beige Brown of the first deckchair with the same Bone White...... and in order to assemble the lengths of styrene rod for the frame, I used a couple of pieces of double sided tape on the cutting mat, which held the frame steady while I super glued the corners. I was able to carefully prise the frames away from the double sided tape without breaking anything! The second version of the deckchair is on the left, with the first prototype on the right.

David

[Anglia105E]

Here are links to a couple of very short video tests, on YouTube, which show the idea that I am currently working on.

This is all about using a technique with fishing line to simulate the movement of five vehicles on the 1:43 dioramas. On one side of Western Avenue, there is a funeral procession of three black cars travelling slowly in one direction. At the same time, on the other side of the road there is a Ford V8 Pilot travelling in the opposite direction, and the car is towing a caravan.

The front of the hearse is being pulled by an invisible line, while the two cars following the hearse are also linked by fishing line, and a long line is then attached to the rear of the last car in the procession, leading around two steel posts and back along the other side of Western Avenue.

This line is pulling the front of the Ford Pilot, and the car is towing the Willerby Vogue caravan with the fitted towing attachment.

Early days yet, but the jerky motion of the cars needs to be smoother, which is caused mainly by the slightly lumpy tyres on the limousine. The Pilot tows the caravan very well, surprisingly.

I have tested this idea previously in 1:24 scale, but these diecast smaller scale models are somewhat heavier.

After trying to tie knots in the fishing line without success, I used a hot glue gun to attach the line to the small screws on the underside of each chassis.

 

https://youtu.be/efRBDZ7WLz0

https://youtu.be/ASUEM4DpJoA

 

David

[DonW]

For years now I've kept cigarette papers and roach material (whatever that might be) in a green Curiously Strong Mints tin like the one in one of your posts above!

I like the videos but agree about the jerkiness.

Cheers,

-Don.

 

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, DonW said:

For years now I've kept cigarette papers and roach material (whatever that might be) in a green Curiously Strong Mints tin like the one in one of your posts above!

I like the videos but agree about the jerkiness.

Cheers,

-Don.

 

Hello Don....... As well as these small ( 18g ) M&S Curiously Strong Mints tins, I have many of the larger ( 50g ) tins, which are very useful for keeping model building bits in. Marks & Spencer charge us £1.25 for 18g, after previously charging us £1.25 for 50g, which really annoys me, believe it or not! Thanks for looking at the videos, and it seems to be the tyres on the Austin Princess limousine that have flat spots...... might have to pinch some tyres off a less important Oxford Diecast model car.

Cheers,

David

[Anglia105E]

Here you are, Don.... any kind of card or thick paper used to make a roach with.

green card from the back of rizla packs is widely accepted to be the best.

the rizla box itself is also considered to be roach material.

in desperation, a cigarette box could be deemed roach material.

[DonW]

Thanks David

Yes, and I've also used strips off old envelopes and even carefully folded cigarette papers.

My comment was a little tongue in cheek?

Any plans on smoothing out the Rolls Royces' ride?

Cheers, 

-Don.

[Anglia105E]

3 hours ago, DonW said:

Thanks David

Yes, and I've also used strips off old envelopes and even carefully folded cigarette papers.

My comment was a little tongue in cheek?

Any plans on smoothing out the Rolls Royces' ride?

Cheers, 

-Don.

Well, these are not Rolls-Royce cars, as both the hearse and the limousine are Austin Princess models...... I have taken one tyre off the limousine today, and it seems to be perfectly round, with no lumpy bits. Experiments continue with the operation of the fishing line mechanism. Today, some spy cameras arrived in the post, so I am currently playing with these to see how they work..... each of the three cameras is only 20 mm x 20 mm x 15 mm in size, which is like a large dice.

David

[Flat32]

Hi David, One way to control the movement of the cars is to have the fishing line in a loop where the pull line is connected to first car and the rear of the last car with a driving capstan pulley between and a bit of tension on the line.  Kind of like a bicycle chain. Smooth rotation of the pulley guarantees smooth car movement.

[Anglia105E]

15 minutes ago, Flat32 said:

Hi David, One way to control the movement of the cars is to have the fishing line in a loop where the pull line is connected to first car and the rear of the last car with a driving capstan pulley between and a bit of tension on the line.  Kind of like a bicycle chain. Smooth rotation of the pulley guarantees smooth car movement.

Thank you, Raymond....... and indeed, that is something I need to include as part of the mechanism. I understand what you are saying, and I will try to fix that up. However, there is the possibility that at least one of the three cars in the funeral procession is grounding slightly, which could even be the hot glue that I used to attach the fishing line to the chassis screws, or maybe the road surface has a bump where the two diorama baseboards join together. We shall see!

David

[DonW]

On 7/3/2020 at 9:10 PM, Anglia105E said:

Well, these are not Rolls-Royce cars, as both the hearse and the limousine are Austin Princess models...... I have taken one tyre off the limousine today, and it seems to be perfectly round, with no lumpy bits. Experiments continue with the operation of the fishing line mechanism. Today, some spy cameras arrived in the post, so I am currently playing with these to see how they work..... each of the three cameras is only 20 mm x 20 mm x 15 mm in size, which is like a large dice.

David

I clearly didn't look properly, as I well know the difference between a Princess and a Rolls Royce of the era.

Cheers,

-Don. 

[DonW]

What would happen if you ran the cars faster and then slowed the film down? The opposite of many car chase movies...

[Anglia105E]

9 minutes ago, DonW said:

What would happen if you ran the cars faster and then slowed the film down? The opposite of many car chase movies...

Thanks, Don.... and I would imagine that idea would work, and in the meantime I am looking at Raymond's suggestion to include some sort of pulley along the length of the fishing line.. I can see this working quite well, by one means or another.  Certainly, it is fun to play around with these theories.

David

[DonW]

Worth watching 'City of tiny lights' - Google 'city of tiny lights zappa video' should get you there . All Plasticene.

The opposite of the effect you're after in many ways. But moving images are attractive in any form.

Cheers,

-Don.

Edited July 4, 2020 by DonW

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, DonW said:

Worth watching 'City of tiny lights' - Google 'city of tiny lights zappa video' should get you there . All Plasticene.

The opposite of the effect you're after in many ways. But moving images are attractive in any form.

Cheers,

-Don.

Fascinating animation video, Don...... just watched City of Tiny Lights and it must have required a considerable amount of work to produce that 5.5 minute video. The red VW beetle among the traffic near the beginning is clever, which leads to the traffic pouring over the edge of the road. Not seen it before.

David

[Anglia105E]

This is a link to one of the better test videos for this project, but the fishing line that is pulling the model cars is too visible. Previously, the line was not visible, and this is because the light source has been moved. The overall movement is smoother, apart from the slight pause where the car and caravan pass over the hump in the road surface. For the first time, the Ford V8 Pilot manages to stay on the road, and does not veer over to the left and onto the pavement (sidewalk).

https://youtu.be/Zk9eJRVnhPw

One of the three funeral procession cars has a squeaky axle I think, so a drop of oil is required. When the music track is added, the squeaking axle noise will not be heard anyway. Here are a few photos to show the position of the G-clamps, around which the fishing line is running.

David

[DonW]

Getting there! I probably would't have really noticed the fishing line had you not mentioned it.

[Anglia105E]

1 hour ago, DonW said:

Getting there! I probably would't have really noticed the fishing line had you not mentioned it.

Cheers, Don...... I would like to keep the line invisible if I can, so we shall see how it goes. Thank you for your words of encouragement.

David

[Anglia105E]

Here we have a 1:43 scale Jaguar MK I rolling chassis, with a Mini ' Spy ' Camera strapped to the chassis floor....... this gives a driver's eye view of the diorama setting as though seated at the wheel of a 1:43 scale car.

This link takes you to the short test video, and here are a few photos of the setup.

https://youtu.be/h7wD7ZYxRSQ

David

[Anglia105E]

Today was a good day for some outdoor photography and this single photograph in B&W was taken in bright sunlight, but with some grey clouds adding to the overcast weather conditions. Using one scale model motor car and one figure, both in 1:43 scale, a batch of 44 shots was produced. From this batch of photos I have selected what I consider to be the best shot, because it has a sense of drama about it. I have deliberately removed some of the clarity in this shot, to enhance the quality of realism.

David

[landman]

?☺️

[Anglia105E]

12 minutes ago, landman said:

?☺️

? Cheers, Pat...... thanks buddy!

I forgot to mention..... the car in the shot is a 1930 Bentley 8 litre straight-six by Lansdowne Models, and was the car owned by W.O. Bentley himself.

David

[Anglia105E]

I have nearly finished constructing a 1:43 scale model of a Little Chef restaurant building, which is from a card building kit. The Little Chef chain of restaurants was a well known brand name in Great Britain, and the company was in business from 1958 to 2018 when the licence expired after 60 years. Most drivers in the UK have fond memories of stopping for breakfast or lunch at a Little Chef, including myself. The food was excellent and the service was very friendly and welcoming. My terraced houses diorama in 1:43 scale represents how life was in 1959, so there could easily have been a Little Chef restaurant in the vicinity at that time.

David

[DonW]

On 7/11/2020 at 10:23 PM, Anglia105E said:

? Cheers, Pat...... thanks buddy!

I forgot to mention..... the car in the shot is a 1930 Bentley 8 litre straight-six by Lansdowne Models, and was the car owned by W.O. Bentley himself.

David

Great photo, but I'm curious about the registration number - W.O's 8 litre was GK 706.

I also like the Little Chef concept - we always went there on our travels to and from BMW Car club races.

Better than Happy Eater,,,